PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES MUST STRUGGLE ON GRACE AND INGRID DONNELLY
Grace has scoliosis... she needed to be seen
INGRID Donnelly’s 12-year-old daughter is battling constant pain with no end in sight after a planned pre-op assessment for scoliosis surgery was cancelled yesterday due to the nurses’ strike.
Grace, from Rosslare, Co. Wexford, was diagnosed with curvature of her spine over two years ago when she was ten.
She has been waiting on surgery ever since to correct it and relieve her of the chronic pain but the much-anticipated presurgery assessment at Crumlin Children’s Hospital yesterday was cancelled.
Her mother Ingrid said the nurses’ strike left her feeling emotional yesterday as they have not yet been given a new appointment and now they fear a backlog could delay Grace’s surgery further.
‘The curve on my daughter’s spine has deteriorated greatly, she needs her surgery. She’s in a lot of pain. She’s off school today because she’s in a lot of pain and it’s beginning to impact on her lungs and her hips,’ Ms Donnelly told the Mail.
Ms Donnelly received a phone call on Friday to say the pre-op assessment had been cancelled due to the strike. ‘I was a bit emotional when I got the call, because this is impacting my child,’ she said. ‘I can see both sides of the story here, my older daughter is a nurse in the UK so, I know just how hard nurses work.’
Mrs Donnelly said nurses do deserve their pay rises but unfortunately there will now be a backlog of appointments.
‘I hope further strikes will be called off, because this is going to have a big impact on all patients. It’s hard for parents to watch their children in pain, particularly from a painful condition like scoliosis,’ she said. ‘Hopefully Grace will get her surgery in the coming months and not have to suffer.’